Tag Archives: Cloud Atlas

…and Monday Funday is BAAAAAAAAACK! Here’s where The Bamboo Stiletto combines her unhealthy obsession with the movies & TV, the tawdry world of celeb gossip & their heavenly holiday homes & beach houses, all into a single fun post!

American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, with wife Ricky, at their fabulous beach estate in Jamaica (image courtesy of Architectural Digest)

Take note, dear Stiletto-istas, that the photos in my previous blog post are those of the main beach house in the Lauren family compound. In case you’re not digging that scene and, y’ know, like your taste runs to the more contemporary beach house look…fear not, modernista, because THIS below is the guest crib within that same Lauren family beach compound. A total departure from the decor of the main house, isn’t it? And equally drool-worthy (images courtesy of Architectural Digest):

alles weiss…the azure Caribbean pops against the vision in white in the Lauren guest beach cottage

sleek & contemporary, the Lauren guest cottage gives off a more youthful, hip, casual-chic vibe than the main beach house. hmmm, I wonder if they accept applications for the position of permanent houseguest? I’d invite Usain Bolt over for cocktails…

Now that we bid farewell to the structured, poreless, flawless perfection of Ralph Lauren’s world, let’s say hello to the messy, sordid, paparazzi-infested environs of celebrity gossip.

And here is where The Bamboo Stiletto has to make a confession, dear Stiletto-istas; we’re not always very discerning when it comes to our choice of summer reading material. Yes, folks, we’re not always reading ponderous, cerebral-heavy tomes such as David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” or even soft-core porn literature such as the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series. Sometimes, we just can’t wait to get our grubby little paws on the latest tabloid. That’s right, peeps! Sometimes, I do feed my brain junk food. Shame on me indeed 🙂

If your literary diet has been anything like mine lately, then you hella be acing this next Monday Funday pop quiz!

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past couple of years, then there’s a chance that you might have heard of a squee little book and movie phenomenon, called “Twilight”. Like, there were about 3 or 4 GIGANTIC best-selling books, you know? And these books were made into 4 or 5 movies which were all like GINORMOUS blockbusters? What’s the story about, you ask? Well, here’s a Cliff Note for ya: lip-biting human girl and vampire boy with awesome hair have a “meet cute”…oh, and stud muffin werewolf boy too, who’s always half-naked (yay!)…someone’s in love with someone who’s in love with someone..uh-oh! here comes the super cool evil red-eyed vampires (the only ones I really enjoyed watching, played with malevolent relish by Dakota Fanning and Michael Sheen)…cry cry, fight fight, die die…human girl becomes vampire girl…boom, THE END! Anyway, DKDC (don’t know, don’t care).

The gist of it is that the movie franchise spawned by these books turned the young stars who play the series’ two leading onscreen lovers into the hottest celebrities in Hollywood. Made even hotter by a supposed offscreen romance between the two lead stars – how much of it was studio-manufactured in the beginning, we can only guess – a relationship which nevertheless seemed to be overall quite genuine.

With the last installment in the franchise set to roll out at the end of the year, everything seemed hunky-dory in the “Twilight” universe when the blockbuster juggernaut recently hit a bump. Enterprising scandal sheets broke the story (with sizzling pictures! their covers screamed) of the young actress caught in an illicit clinch with the married, much older director of one of her other films. Her young heart throb actor boyfriend – yes, he plays the vampire with the really awesome hair – who was said to be “devastated” at the betrayal, wasted no time saying “adios” from their shared home, packed his bags and went into hiding, ostensibly to nurse his broken vampire heart. The fall-out from this shattered romance was apparently of such massive proportions that the news threatened to eclipse coverage of global events such as the Olympics, tragedy such as the Colorado/Batman movie shooting massacre and succeeded in completely erasing the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce drama from all news media outlets’ front pages.

Can you guess where the young actor fled to? Well, the young actor has expanded from his repertoire of playing the undead and starred in other films too. In the film “Water for Elephants”, he co-starred and became good friends with Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon, whom he had already met in a much earlier film they did together. Reports say that it is in her holiday ranch in Ojai, California where our heartbroken young star has sought refuge. If this is true, then all I can say is, it sure looks like he picked the right place to nurse his wounds and soothe his soul. Check out Ms. Witherspoon’s homey hide-away vacation ranch below (all images courtesy of Elle Decor):

dark wooden beams don’t detract from the ceiling’s height in the living room, with gorgeous fireplace and a juliet balcony

so many details to LOVE in this room. that chandelier…those windows…plush comfortable seating nooks inviting you to linger…and yes, a jute rug that ties it all together!

having non-matching chairs grouped around the dining table lend an informal air to what otherwise could be seemingly formal furniture

can you just imagine having breakfast on this divine terrace? with that heartbroken young “Twilight” star for company? oooops, awkward…or maybe not, hmmmm

we’re loving this darling little alcove under the stairs…perfect for penning that break-out novel! maybe it can then be made into a blockbuster movie too!

There you have it, Stiletto-istas! Who can give me the name of this hot young British actor who catapulted to fame by playing a lovesick vampire with awesome hair and whose earliest film role, by the way , was also in another massive blockbuster franchise, the “Harry Potter” series? Who’s nursing a broken heart right now? It’s Monday Funday…DO TELL!

Happy Monday to all, Stiletto-istas!
We took a much-needed summer breather last week. The sweltering heat in southern China has just been completely suffocating so last week, in between encasing ourselves in airconditioning catching up on our summer reading (has anyone read “Cloud Atlas” by British writer David Mitchell…OFF the HOOK!) & doing DVD marathons (does anyone out there like AMC TV’s “The Killing“, just sick, so awesome!), we’ve been doing nothing but cooling off in the pool and cocooning at the spa. To remain active, we became BFFs with the treadmill in the gym and ventured outdoors only in the evenings for an occasional game of tennis. Dontcha just LOVE summer??? 🙂

Today marks the beginning of a brand new week so we slipped on our stilettos once again, fired up with inspiration and purpose. LOTS TO DO this week and we can’t wait to share them with you in our upcoming posts. The John Wooden quote above from the terrific folks over at sparkpeople.com perfectly captures how we feel about the coming week and what we’ve got in store for work, for life, for you.

We’ve actually been quite remiss in our blog promotion efforts lately and was pleasantly surprised to see that global reader views have now reached 2,600+. Our Olympics fashion police post was the most popular, garnering nearly 350 readers just in one day! A-ha, so now we know what you guys really like to read, huh?

Well, no worries, Stiletto-istas, The Bamboo Stiletto will serve up more fun posts like that for your viewing pleasure. Chill your heels on and have a marvelous week ahead, everyone!